USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 Navy Hat

USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), formerly CVA-63, is the second naval ship named after Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the Wright brothers' first powered airplane flight. With the decommissioning of USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) in 2007, the Kitty Hawk became the first and last active ship of her class.In 1979, the ship teamed with Carrier Air Wing 15 for another WESTPAC deployment, which included Vietnamese search and assistance operations ordered by then-Commander-in-Chief, President Jimmy Carter, to aid Vietnamese refugees who were attempting to escape the Socialist Republic of Vietnam via small boats. During that deployment, Kitty Hawk also offered contingency support off the coast of Korea following the assassination of Republic of Korea President Park Chung Hee. The deployment was then extended two-and-a-half months to support contingency operations in the North Arabian Sea during the Iran hostage crisis. For their actions in the region, Kitty Hawk and CVW-15 were awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal.
During this cruise, Kitty Hawk was filmed entering Pearl Harbor for a cameo appearance in the 1980 movie The Final Countdown, starring Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen. In this role, Kitty Hawk played the part of the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) in the movie, with the crew manning the rails